A&L boss attacks jobs exodus

RICHARD Pym, chief executive of Alliance & Leicester, took aim at his High Street rivals for exporting jobs to India.

He also accused the big four - Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB - of being mired in the past and charging customers high prices.

His words follow a controversial decision by HSBC to ship 4,000 jobs abroad and the furore over Barclays holding a lavish board meeting in Rome.

Pym said A&L had its board meetings in the less glamorous surroundings of London, Leicester or Bootle.

He said he is keeping jobs in Britain because of concerns over the security of customers' accounts, adding: 'When you are dealing with banking, you want a high-security environment. The greater the geographic distance, the greater the risk. You can't subcontract your relationships with customers. We want to be friendly and approachable and the more you outsource, the more that is at risk.'

He said A&L 'can eat the big four's lunch' by challenging them in key markets, such as current accounts.

'They have a mindset rooted in their history. They won't throw away 300 years of debris, and every day their business model is more flawed because it depends on high pricing.'

A&L employs 2,000 staff in call centres in Leeds, Liverpool, Leicester and Ashford, Kent.

Pym, 54, was brought in two years ago to implement a 'back to basics' strategy after the bank failed to hit performance targets.

He plans to expand internet and phone banking, but will keep the 300 branches.

Rival Abbey National, now renamed 'abbey' is also trying a turnaround. 'I have seen nothing from abbey that is a threat,' added Pym.

He added that A&L, often tipped as a merger target, did not need a partner. 'We have a real reason to exist. We will always be the cheeky challenger,' he said.